Hail to the Chef
by Smapdi
Summary: Danny kind of invites Mindy for a home cooked meal, but things don't go quite as planned. Fluff and smut.


Danny Castellano had never looked forward to a subway ride so much in all his life. Subways are hot and crowded, noisy, smelly, and dangerous. They are no place for romance.

Unless, of course, you're in love, and riding the subway with the woman of your dreams. There's a catch - there's always a catch - and this particular catch is tricky. For you see, our hero broke up with the aforementioned woman about two months ago, but only for the noblest, and stupidest, of reasons. And now, he's come to the conclusion that if he can't have her, he don't want nobody, baby.

So Danny cancels his last appointment for the day, just to make sure he doesn't get stuck on a consultation about estrogen therapies and whatnot, and just... lingers. He waits at reception, fumbles at the copy machine, clips the addresses off the magazines in the lobby. Anything to occupy his time while simultaneously being extremely unimportant, so he is there when she ushers her last patient out and smiles brightly at him.

"Why are you still here, Danny? It's Friday night, don't you have a hot date lined up?" Mindy takes off her glasses and gives him an awkward wink.

He does have a hot date. A date with destiny. And this time, it's not Desstynni, the ex-stripper that Peter attempted to fix Danny up with to get him away from his sister.

"Just my couch and some Chinese take out. Want to make it a threesome?" Okay, that came out creepy as fuck. He worsened it with an even more awkward wink, judging from Mindy's reaction.

"Oh, I... um... the msg... I'm trying to lower my sodium intake too..." She stammered, and he felt himself blushing.

"I could cook." God, no, he hadn't planned this at all. It was sounding like he was asking her on a date, and she'd sworn off dating, and also that thing he did where he dumped her and kind of broke her heart. "I'm sorry, you probably have plans."

He was rubbing his neck and wishing he could just run his whole head under the tap and realizing that he probably looked like he just did because he was so, so sweaty and that wasn't helping him look casual at all, when she chirped "What are you cooking?"

And then he was Mr. Cool Ice because cooking for her was goddamn romantic and he had never done it when they were actually together.

"What do you want?" He managed to ask her that without making it sound like an innuendo and for that, he was proud.

She blinked and smiled. "Surprise me." As if this wasn't already surprising enough?

He grinned at her like an idiot for hours or thirty seconds, he wasn't sure, but she punched him on the arm at some point and knocked him out of his fugue state.

"Today? I'm hungry! All I had for lunch was half a box of animal crackers and something Morgan's grandmother made that was either potato salad or hummus. It was blue, Danny. I might be dying." She was grinning back at him and he wanted to marry her.

Where the fuck did that come from?

Okay, that needed to be reigned in, pronto. Though she was possibly the only woman in Earth who wouldn't be freaked out by an impromptu marriage proposal from an ex-boyfriend she had never even slept with, it was probably a mistake, just the same. He could hold that off a little while longer.

But he couldn't hold off on dinner. Fortunately there was a grocery store just one stop after his, and it was his favorite, a little mom-and-pop type. It was literally run by an old married couple who were so Sicilian they made Danny feel like he was in The Godfather, but in a good way, not a horse head in his bed kind of way.

"Okay, I'll grill up something quick, let's head out." He was so tempted to rest his palm on her back as they walked that he had to jam his fists in his pockets so he wouldn't unconsciously do it. They weren't there yet, but maybe after tonight.

The subway was jammed with commuters and as they wound their way into the mass, Danny felt a hand grab the back of his jacket and then his elbow. He stopped to let her catch up, spotting a free seat, and he deftly ushered her into it.

"Such a gentleman." Remarked the elderly woman that Mindy was now hip to hip with.

"Isn't he though?" Mindy grinned at him, and he just shrugged and looked away. Grandma Moses got off at the next stop and Mindy pulled him into the seat, nearly knocking him off balance. His hand brushed her knee and they looked at each other awkwardly as Danny muttered an apology.

Jesus. He wished he could just grab her and kiss her, like he had in the airplane galley. But you only get one of those, and he blew it. He tried to fill the space with small talk and he had a suspicion that Mindy was highly amused by it.

So he shut up and just gazed at her, till she started to blush and she looked away. God, he was so in love with her. How did he ever let her go?

She fiddled with her phone, stammering about some app that would gauge arrival times of mass transit, and he laughed.

"Your magic phone can't predict everything."

Mindy gave him a wistful look and there was a heavy pause before she spoke. "No shit."

Saved by the bell, as the stop came up and Danny stood. He held out a hand and she just looked at it. "You're not coming?" His voice cracked just the tiniest bit and he hated it.

"I was going to go home first..." She said hesitantly.

"C'mon, go shopping with me. I know how picky you are."

She shifted nervously. "I should change."

They were about to miss the stop. "You don't need to change." He heard how emotional his voice sounded and started to feel embarrassed. "You know you're gorgeous. Come on."

Mindy rolled her eyes. And then she took his hand.

Mindy Lahiri was no fool. She had his number since his first awkward invitation. No wonder he was skulking about the lobby trying to look busy! It still caught her off guard - the mention of a threesome involving Danny was enough to get her hot and bothered, but his face, when he realized what he said, was just so ridiculous. She couldn't deal.

So of course she accepted his offer to cook dinner, considering it to be a date regardless of Danny's intentions. The fact she already had one was irrelevant - he was just some guy. This was Danny.

She was quite enjoying the subway ride - the inadvertent groping, the nervous banter - and then he started that thing. The thing with the staring and the grinning and the longing, and good lord, she couldn't handle it. It was like she was a sweater and he was holding a strand of yarn and unraveling her slowly.

So she tried to busy herself by playing with her phone, texting that rando to cancel, not postpone, their date, but dorky Castellano had to make the crack about predictions. Well, duh. If her phone could have predicted he would kiss her and woo her and make her so hopeful and happy and then slap her ass back down to earth, well, yeah, there's no app for that.

But then he held out his hand for her and hell if she didn't want to just pull him down on top of her and just make out with him all over the damn train. But she couldn't, even though she thought maybe he would.

Instead, Mindy took his hand and he tugged her to standing, him pulling a little too hard and her letting him, so she bumped up against him. He smiled briefly as the little electrical current ran through them and she wondered what the hell had taken them so long to finally get together because... damn. And then she remembered oops, he dumped her.

Once the were on the subway platform she disengaged her hand. Danny's face was a mix of disappointment and relief. They weaved through the crowd, staying as close as they could without touching, aside from an accidental, or maybe not accidental, elbow bump on occasion.

When the crowds thinned, the could walk side by side, peeking at each other when they thought it was safe and the other wouldn't catch them. The tension was palpable, much more than before, when they didn't know the softness of each other's lips, the scent of each other's skin. At one point, when they hit another patch of pedestrians, Mindy pulled ahead proudly before realizing she had no idea where they were going.

"Hey hon, over here."

Mindy whipped her head around and stared at him. Danny was standing in front of the grocers, his face rapid turning crimson. "I'm... I didn't... it just slipped out." He said weakly.

Fucking Danny.

She stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and shook her head. "No worries." She mumbled as she turned back and caught up with him, giving him a quick, tight smile. "Slip of the tongue."

He held the door open for her sheepishly, giving her a wide berth, before grabbing a basket and heading into the small meat section. "Hey, Ant'ney!" Danny called out, his Staten Island accent suddenly thicker, to a gray haired gentleman wearing a butcher's apron.

"Daniel! Where have you been, kid?"

Mindy grinned at the concept of Danny, the oldest man she knew, being called a kid by anyone.

"And who is this gorgeous young lady?" Anthony turned to Mindy and gave her a wink.

"This is my friend Mindy. She's making me cook her dinner. What's the good word?" Mindy smacked his arm and stretched out her own to shake hands.

"Oh, any friend of Daniel's is a friend of mine. Do you know he delivered my granddaughter? She was a preemie and he saved her life. He is the best doctor in all of NYC!"

"Second best." Danny corrected, glancing at Mindy. "Mindy delivers babies too. We work together."

"Well, my son better get busy making more work for you then! What can i get you folks tonight?"

"What do you think, Min? Chicken or fish?" Danny waited for her response as she ran a hand along the top of the shiny glass.

She looked at the meat selections then up at him. No way was she having stinky fish breath tonight.

"Chicken, definitely chicken." She grinned.

"Okay, Tone, gimme a couple chicken breasts, and let me have a couple of those filets too."

Mindy raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Wow, Danny, that's a lot of meat."

He grinned and leaned in conspiringly. "That's not the first time I've heard that."

"Oh for God's sake, Danny. You're spending too much time with Peter! We need to fire him." Mindy rolled her eyes and pushed Danny away.

"Hey, I thought he was your best bro?"

"I can't have him ruin you, Danny." She replied with mock seriousness, shaking her head.

"Okay." He grinned, taking the paper wrapped packages and moving on to gather more ingredients. "So, I got the steaks to marinate overnight in this new recipe I found. And we're going to have the chicken with a peach mango salsa I just made. It's really good."

Mindy watched him talk so earnestly about his funny little cooking and that she just couldn't handle it. She grabbed a handful of jacket and propelled herself forward, catching his mouth with hers, mid sentence, soft and quick. He stopped talking.

She took a step back and waited for his reaction. He just looked at her, a little shock in his eyes, but they were warm and welcoming. She bit her lower lip. "I just really like peach mango salsa, okay?"

"It's really good." He said, exhaling, his eyes never leaving hers. A smile played across his lips and Mindy felt a flush bloom on her cheeks, so she looked away. He jostled her with his arm and they finished the shopping quickly.

Danny laced his fingers into hers as they walks the few blocks to his apartment. She felt like she was holding her breath the whole way.

Once inside, Danny was all business, unpacking his groceries and prepping the kitchen to cook. Mindy couldn't give two shits about the meal. She kicked off her shoes and took a seat, just wanting to watch him in his element. The kitchen was like an operating room, and he was skilled, keeping up a running commentary as he worked.

Finally he was done, the meal in the oven, and he washed his hands and dried them and turned to her proudly.

"Now, we wait." He opened a bottle of wine and offered Mindy a glass, so she joined him at the counter. She brushed her fingers against his as she took the glass, suppressing a shiver.

She sipped the wine and set it on the counter. She moved closer, and her voice was husky when she spoke.

"I don't want to wait."

She knew she was making it way too easy on him, letting him back into her life again, but she didn't care. Her hands seemed to have a life of their own as she ran them across his chest, feeling the tautness of his muscles, the rapid beating of his heart. His hands tentatively found her waist as he searched her face before pulling her tight against him and capturing her lips.

She felt lightheaded, threading her arms around his neck, pressing herself into him. It felt so right, wiping out the memories of the last few months of heartache in just a single moment. Danny's hands caressed her face, tangled in her hair, roamed the planes of her back.

Gasping for breath, Mindy pulled back to look into his eyes. "I want this. I want you." She sighed.

"Min." Danny's voice was shaky. "I want this too. But I don't... I don't think we should have sex."

She frowned. "What?"

"It's just... the chicken is cooking..."

"Are you freaking kidding me!?" She shouted. "You'd rather have CHICKEN than me?"

"No, no. God, no. Listen..." He laid a hand on her cheek, stroking it gently. "I feel like I owe you so much... I don't deserve you. I fucked up, and I'm so, so sorry. I just feel like I need to make it up to you with more than just dinner."

Mindy felt a wave of relief. "Okay, you dummy, you start with that, not the goddamn chicken."

She clutched at his shirt and pulled him closer. "I don't want to hear your apologies. I don't need you to do anything more than this." She kissed him with intention - there was no ambiguity about her desire. She cemented that by running her hand down the planes of his torso to give his belt buckle a tug before slipping even lower, her palm finding him hard and straining.

He growled against her mouth and it was on.

Danny picked her up with ease, hands claiming her ass and hoisting her onto his hips. She moaned as she ground her pelvis against him and somehow they found their way into his bedroom, where they fell on the bed with a bounce. Mindy landed on her back, with her dress already riding up, and Danny pushed it higher, exposing her tiny turquoise panties.

"I'm gonna tear these off of you." He slid his hand up her outer thigh and gripped the sliver of fabric.

"Nooooo, Danny, they were really expensive!" She shrieked and he laughed as she pushed his hand away and hoisted her hips in the air to slide them off herself. He laid next to her and caught her mouth, his tongue thrusting into her lips as his hand crept between her thighs and he oh so slowly slid his fingers back and forth, slipping between the folds into her center.

Mindy was making delicious sighs and moans as Danny moved his kisses south, tasting her skin in her throat.

"This has to come off too." He grumbled against her collarbone. She laughed and sat up, forcing him to stop his teasing fingers so he could unzip her and undo her bra, quite nimbly, as she fumbled with his shirt buttons to bare his chest. Danny pulled her dress up over her head and tried to lay her back down.

"Not till you're more naked, buddy." She scolded. He threw his shirt off and undid his pants, kissing any part of her he could reach. He had to slide off the side of the bed to remove them, flinging his shoes and socks off in a frenzy, but when he stood back up Mindy had already scooted higher on the bed and was sitting up, her legs together with her knees up, a wicked grin on her face.

"C'mere..." She beckoned him with a finger wag and he returned to her side. She cast her eyes downward and bit her lip as she gazed at his burgeoning arousal.

"God, you're fucking sexy." He murmured, his lips closing on hers briefly before working south again. His large hands encompassed her breasts, caressing and stroking. She arched her back into his touch, as he replaced hands with mouth, tongue deftly working her nipples. She reached for him, one hand winding into his hair, the other moving to stroke him. He groaned as her fingers caressed him but he slid further down her body and she lost the contact.

"Baby..." She moaned. "Let me..."

"Shhh..." He licked down her belly, briefly visiting her navel he pushed her knees apart. "Let ME." His mouth was hot as he teased her inner thighs, his tongue moving everywhere but there, where she wanted him most, till she was bucking her hips and mewling in frustration, her hands twisting in his hair.

Finally he stopped the torture and lapped at her hungrily, long strokes along her wet folds, ending with deft ministrations on the swollen peak till she was cresting and shuddering against his mouth. He caressed her sensitive tissues softly, easing her back down, before kissing his way back up to her mouth again.

"Was that good?" He whispered, his voice thick with desire.

"So good." She sighed, her body limp and lazy against his.

"Okay." He grinned and kissed her nose, starting to get up.

"Where are you going?" She was still in a haze but tightened her grip on his bicep to stop him.

"Uh... Hang on. I'll be back..." He laughed against her neck before hurriedly leaving the room. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm too young for your Terminator reference, Danny!" She shouted after him.

He returned and she blushed at the sight of him, naked and aroused, as he pulled her up against him. "I had to turn off the oven. Now where were we?"

"Oh my God, Danny. You and the chicken! Why don't you marry it, you love it so much." Mindy giggled as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I don't want to marry the chicken."

She couldn't be faulted if she swooned just a little at that, right? Because his eyes were so intense and she was sure that didn't mean he wanted to marry her but maybe he did, just a little. Someday.

So to break the tension, she grabbed his cock. It worked, because then she was on her back and he was kissing her and kneeing her thighs apart and all she had to do was just move her hips up and he was inside her. Finally.

"Fuck. Danny." She was grunting as he pushed so slowly into her, thick and hard and gorgeous, looking into her eyes. He moved like a dancer, nimble and fluid, but she wanted more, pushing her hips up to meet him, nails digging into his ass. He moved faster then, long strokes pumping in and out, finding a rhythm.

Danny paused and sat up so he could adjust. He hooked a hand under her knee and pulled it up, slipping her lower beneath him, her ankle at his neck, making short harder thrusts into her. She gasped at the sensation as he hit her inner walls at the new angle.

"Jesus... what the... fuck..." She panted before she lost the power of speech and everything crashed, her climax blocking out everything but the electricity that ran through her. It seemed to go on forever, as she clenched and quivered, and soon Danny was there with her, hot spasms moving through him into her.

They collapsed back onto the bed, entangled, Danny stroking her hair and kissing her softly. Mindy gazed at him in awe.

"How did you... That's never happened. I kinda didn't even believe those were real, and I'm a gyno. I thought Cosmo invented the G spot."

He just grinned at her. "Yeah, me too. I know my way around a woman's body. They're real."

"Oh my God, Danny. Oh my God."

He looked at her with pride, her flushed cheeks and tangled hair evidence of his skill.

"You turned off the chicken. What are we going to eat?"

Danny laughed. "I'll order a pizza."

"Can we put the peach mango salsa on it?" She murmured. "I really like peach mango salsa."

"You have my blessing."


End file.
